Shropshire Green Party is supporting the Safe Waste in Shropshire campaign against the proposed incinerator at Battlefield. More information can be found at www.safewasteshropshire.co.uk

The Green Party believes that the thrust of waste management policy should be three-pronged: to REDUCE consumption; to RE-USE items where possible and to RECYCLE any leftover materials. The introduction of an incinerator will substantially reduce the incentives to do so.

Worse still, incinerators are linked with numerous serious health hazards caused by the emission of invisible toxic particulates from the chimney. These include birth defects; cancers; respiratory illnesses and many others. Added to this are many environmental problems such as the production of toxic waste which is difficult and costly to dispose of and increased CO2 emissions. Also, incinerators need to be run constantly so it is likely that potentially recyclable materials and toxic business waste will be used to maintain the burn. The case against the incinerator is overwhelming. In any case, there are a number of safer and cheaper alternatives such as autoclaving or anaerobic digestion.

At present, it appears that Shropshire County Council are trying to avoid any form of consultation on this matter. It is imperative that pressure is brought to bear from all quarters to force them to reconsider this horrendous proposal.

The local Green Party welcomes the news that Shropshire County Council has decided not to proceed with its application for funding for the North-West Relief Road via the government’s Transport Innovation Fund. Their change of mind was largely due to the widespread objections to town-centre congestion charging, which was integral to the package.

As a consequence, the Relief Road plans appear to be in substantial jeopardy. However, the council voted to continue searching for funding through other channels but we believe that their chances of success are slim. One avenue they are considering is linking the proposed road to a flood-alleviation scheme but, again, we feel this is unlikely to be viable.

Jim Jepps, Cambridge Green Party and Electoral Returning Officer, reports after the count on Friday, November 30:

“The leadership motion has been passed by more than the 2/3rd majority required.
Votes against 963 (27%)
Votes for 2,634 (73%)
Eight spoilt papers
The turnout was 48.3% with 3,605 ballot papers cast.”

Green Party Principal Speaker Caroline Lucas said: "I'm delighted about this result. The party can now move forward together and onto the job in hand. We have an urgent green message to communicate and many votes to win.

"This is a fantastic day for the Green Party and will help ensure we have a party that is understandable, recognisable and effective. But we now need to demonstrate to all our members, regardless of which way they voted, that this is not about weakening our principles, it's about strengthening our effectiveness."

Green Party Principal Speaker Derek Wall said: "We need a Green Party which is effective and empowering, doing things differently from the top down traditional politics that turns voters off.

"The result of this referendum challenges the Party to create a leadership structure that is true to green ideals. It has put our future leaders on notice that the membership expects a more focussed, more effective party, with a leadership team that is truly accountable to the membership in a real and effective manner."

Richard Mallender, chair of the Green Party executive, said: “I’m very pleased to see such a high turnout and that we have a clear result. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the ballot and also extend thanks to the ERO and the standing orders committee for the smooth conduct of the ballot.

“The referendum was an excellent example of democracy in action.”

(You can find details of the motion passed, and other background, on the members’ website, at http://members.greenparty.org.uk/referendum. You need the username and password for that – please contact the email address below, giving your name, address and local party, if you need that. Or it was printed on page 3 of the recent Green Activist)